


A Kelpie and a Selkie

by DraniKitty



Series: Tales from the Garbage Court [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Friendship, Leaving Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 21:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4802999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraniKitty/pseuds/DraniKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young kelpie wanders down to the beach after yet another move of village and a curious selkie comes out of the sea to talk to him. What happens next is an uncommon friendship</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Kelpie and a Selkie

**Author's Note:**

> Something much larger than Drabbles of the Garbage Court, but still involves them. Longer stories overall, so gets its own collection

Waves crashed on the rocks, the sea's eternal song to the land.  
  
 _One day, you'll be mine again._  
  
The calmer waters, further from the shore, rang with the songs of many voices. The chirps and clips and whistles of selkies at play carried far to a figure sitting on a cliff overlooking them.  
  
Summer heat meant bare toes in the grass, children swimming in ponds and rivers, foolish teenagers climbing on a gentle-looking horse, only to find out the horse wasn't what it seemed. He was learning well about these facts from his mother, helping fool the teenagers so they could eat another day. The game was always the same, a mare in the grass by that ever-so-peaceful looking pond, her foal playing and kicking near by. The humans would come along, befriend the foal, then the mare, and when she gave no resistance, they'd climb on her back.  
  
And then the foal would watch far too intently as they stuck to its mother, as she dove into the pond and were drowned. Sometimes the humans grew wise, though, and they had to leave, lest the villagers come with iron chains that burned.  
  
The boy stared down at the sea, arms around his legs as he played with the grass. The game was starting to change. They'd moved again, to a new village. This one was by the sea, with a river instead of a pond. It made the hunting easier, as bodies were easier to hide in the sea than they were a pond. But the boy wasn't fond of the salty taste of the river, so close to the ocean waters.  
  
Something caught the boy's eye, one of the many heads in the sea further from the rest, closer to the shore. Curiosity overtook the young kelpie, and he was soon picking his way down to the beach. The sand was warm under his feet, and he was soon sprinting to avoid burning himself. When he reached the parts that were soaked with sea water, cold to the touch, he slowed down, walking carefully. Waves raced up the shore, lapping at his feet. The bobbing head, at a distance from the others, was clearly avoiding them.  
  
The figure in the water noticed the boy, the tilt of his head, the very clear curiosity, and took a chance. Surely they wouldn't be chased up onto the beach, right?  
  
The boy watched in fascination as the figure came closer, before hurrying out of the water, something big hugged around their shoulders. When the figure got closer, he saw that it was another boy, slightly smaller, hugging a seal skin close.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment, in the sun and the edge of the surf, before the selkie looked back at the water, sticking his tongue out. The bigger pups weren't following him, calling out whistles and barks of alarm before they vanished under the waves, swimming off to tattle. He turned back to the other, tilting his head. "You're not human."  
  
"No shit, Sherlock."  
  
The selkie wrinkled his nose. "You've a dirty mouth."  
  
The taller boy grinned, the beginning hints of the predator he was born to be evident in it. "Thank you!" He stuck his hand out, a practiced gesture his mother had taught him so he could pass for human when the time came. "Call me Smith." It wasn't really his name, not in the least. It was a lesson taught to many fae children - Never give your full name, for names have power over you if somebody knows yours.  
  
He eyed the hand, before slowly taking it. "Trott." He looked back at the sea, hearing the calls of adults. "Oh... I think I'm in trouble..."  
  
Smith looked at the water, hands on his hips. "They can suck it."  
  
Trott looked at him funny. "Suck what?"  
  
He gave a wave of his hand. "Never mind." He started to say something, when he heard his mother's call. "Oh... I think I'M in trouble." He looked up at the cliffs, where his mother stood with her arms crossed. "I think Mum's got supper ready." Smith looked at Trott, then grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow, Trottimus!"  
  
Trott started to protest that Trottimus wasn't his name, then stopped and smiled. "Bye, Smith." He watched Smith run off across the sand, climbing back up to the cliffs where his mother admonished him. He let out a sigh, then turned and went back to the water, swimming to his own mother's worried embrace.  
  


* * *

  
  
Smith returned to the beach the next day, looking proud of himself. He found Trott on one of the rocks at the edge of the cove, sharpening a stone blade. "Good day, Trottimus!" He climbed up on the rock, all gangly limbs and unsteady on the wave-smoothed stone. It was very different from river rocks, somehow.  
  
Trott didn't look up from what he'd been doing. "Mum was worried. She doesn't trust river fae." He checked the sharpness of the stone against the top of his hand. "Elders were livid." He sat up straight for a moment, thought better of it, then bent over, putting on a fake elder voice. "You shouldn't be going up on the land like that, pup! You don't know if somebody's after your skin or not! You can't trust ANYBODY!"  
  
Beside him, Smith started laughing. "Is that really what they sound like?" He wiped away a tear, then shifted, hugging his knees. "Mum wasn't too angry for me being down here, she didn't even have supper ready yet." He then grinned, once again looking proud of himself. "I made my first kill yesterday! You should have seen it!"  
  
Trott blinked, then looked at Smith. "Was it one of those animals with the long ears and puffy tails?"  
  
"What? No! Kelpies don't eat RABBITS!" He sat back, crossing his arms. "We eat humans!"  
  
He was silent a moment, before he asked, "What about selkies? You don't eat selkies, do you?"  
  
Smith made a face like he'd tasted something that had been dead a week. "No way! Fae aren't for EATING! They taste awful!"  
  
Trott's jaw dropped, a look of horror on his face. "WHY do you KNOW that?!"  
  
He gave a shrug, placing his hands on the rock behind him, legs stretched out. "We were wandering once, one of the times we had to move village on account the locals got wise. Found a fae that'd been killed by some other humans. We'd not eaten in a while, since we were going a way most people don't go, and we were desperate... I think I'd rather starve first if I was in a situation like that again." The memory of the taste rose up in the back of his throat and he had to keep from throwing up.  
  
"Desperate times, mate." He set the stone knife aside, then lay back and stretched out on the rock. "I had to sneak away to get up here... I'm not sure they realize I'm out here yet."  
  
Smith looked at Trott for a moment, then broke into a grin. "Aw, Trotty, you're breaking rules just for me? We've only known each other for a day!"  
  
Trott crossed his arms, staring at the sky. "Oh, screw the rules. I don't much like it out there, anyway."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
He shrugged. "Other pups don't think I'll amount to anything. Too small... A runt..." He sneered. "Coddled by mummy. I just want to wipe the smugness off their faces."  
  
Smith picked up the stone knife, curiously examining it. "They're cowards. Anybody who has to bully somebody else is clearly having their own problems and taking it out on somebody else to make themselves feel better. Only known you a day and them none and I already think you're a better person than them." He put the knife back, looking at Trott. "You saw me out here, on the beach, and came to see who I was. THEY ran off back to their mums like scared little fish in a pond."  
  
Trott stared at Smith for a moment, then sat up. "You're right. I WAS brave enough to come up on land. Anything could have happened, you could have been a human out to steal my skin. Instead..."  
  
"You found a friend."  
  
He smiled. "Yeah."  
  


* * *

  
  
Smith returned to the beach several times, each time simply spending the day on the sand or the rocks with Trott. The selkie elders eventually stopped minding, finding less and less threat in the friendship. There was always that nagging worry, though, that Smith would have to relocate again, as the villagers would eventually grow wise.  
  
The winds had changed, no longer bringing warm air from the south but the much more frigid air from the north. The forests were filled with the roaring calls of stags, seeking mates for the season. As leaves drifted down the river, Trott crouched on the bank staring at them.  
  
"Careful or you might fall in."  
  
He gave Smith a sour look. "I'm a selkie, I can swim in turbulent seas just fine! A river's no different!"  
  
Smith shrugged, crouching beside him. "It's plenty different. Waves in the ocean are going back and forth and they'll slack. A river never rests, it's never calm." He picked up a rock and tossed it in. The ripples vanished in the flow before they could even reach the shores. "Some rivers got pockets in them, spots where the ground falls away into a hole. You get sucked in there, you aren't coming out."  
  
Trott stared at Smith, at first thinking he was joking. But there was no glimmer of mischief in his eyes, nor was he grinning. "You're serious..."  
  
He stood back up, crossing his arms. "YES I'm serious! Even Mum won't go in some parts of the river because of it!" He tugged Trott away from the river. "Come on, if you're so desperate to see the leaves, we can go in the trees."  
  
Letting out a huff, Trott dutifully followed Smith into the trees. He looked up at the leaves, his grumpiness quickly lost as he admired the golds and reds of the leaves. This was something selkies didn't usually get to see, out in the ocean. He'd heard stories from those that migrated, or those that had braved leaving their herds to travel the world amid humans, of places where life in the sea came in many colors more than he saw on land. Fish that looked the colors of butterflies, darting about in seas that never got cold. That had to be what he wanted most in life, to feel warmth all year.  
  
The thud of hooves brought both boys out of their revere at the magic of autumn. Smith started to call a greeting to his mother, only to freeze. "Trott... Trott, get up the tree."  
  
Trott looked at him strangely, then followed his gaze. In front of them stood a stag, antlers pointed enough that they'd do plenty of damage if they came in contact with flesh. He stared the young fae down, snorting and pawing the ground, before starting to advance.  
  
The spell of frozen panic broke and both Smith and Trott took off for the nearest tree, scrambling as they climbed up. The stag broke into a charge, one antler clipping an ankle as it passed. He turned, letting out a roaring bellow, pumped up and angry with hormones brought on by the rutt.  
  
As they clung to the tree, Smith whimpered. When Trott looked, he drew in a sharp breath. "Smith, you're bleeding!"  
  
"No SHIT!" He shifted so he could sit more comfortably on the branch he was on, looking down at the deer. "Middle of the rutt, they're all FILLED with hormones... Of COURSE he's not going to leave us alone, thinks we're a threat to his hinds!"  
  
"His what?"  
  
Smith gave Trott a grouse of an expression. "His ladies, the girls he's hoping to shag!"  
  
Trott looked down at the stag, then Smith, and let out a quiet, "Oh.." They lapsed into silence as the stag circled, knocking antlers against wood and letting out agitated sounds. Before they knew it, the sun was starting to go down, bringing a new chill with it.  
  
Smith shifted, groaning. "My ass HURTS sitting like this..."  
  
"YOUR ass? I have a branch against my ass crack!" Holding the tree trunk, Trott leaned over slightly, looking at the stag. "How is he still HERE?! Shouldn't he be hungry or something?" He broke a small branch off above his head, throwing it down. "Go away! We're not deer!"  
  
The stag snorted, head butting the tree as best he could as the twig bounced harmlessly off his shoulder. Backing up, he stared up at the pair.  
  
Letting out a sigh, Smith leaned on the trunk. "Don't think things could get worse."  
  
Trott shot him a glare. "NEVER say that! When you say things can't get worse-" He was cut off by a crack and a boom, water pouring down on them in ice-cold sheets. "Something happens to make it WORSE."  
  
He cringed, trying to shrink into the tree. "Sorry, Trott..." His gaze went down to the stag, who was clearly displeased with the rain. On the plus side, it seemed to be cooling the animal's temper, and he was soon stalking off to find his hinds. Leaning over to peek, Smith frowned. After a moment, he whispered to Trott, "I think he's gone."  
  
"Good! I want out of this bloody tree!" There was a pause, before Trott looked down, suddenly realizing how high they were. "Um... How do we do this?"  
  
Smith opened his mouth to answer, drew a blank, then closed his mouth. He had no idea, truthfully. Climbing out of a dry tree was one thing. This one was wet, and his ankle was still smarting from where the antler had cut into it. A drop from this high would surely injure him much worse, and Trott still didn't have his land legs. "If we jump down... I might break my ankle, and you'll probably break everything ELSE."  
  
"No shit, Sherlocke!" He let out a huff, shifting to try and get more comfortable on the branch. "Selkies aren't meant to go up trees! Why couldn't we have just, I don't know, RUN?"  
  
"Mate, you've never seen a stag chasing somebody, have you? The only thing faster than a stag would probably be a grown kelpie. We'd get mowed down before we even got five feet." Smith shifted as well, wincing in pain between his sore ass from sitting on the branch and from his ankle. Time in the tree had done nothing to diminish the pain and he was starting to worry it might get infected. Managing to find a marginally more comfortable position, he sighed, "Maybe Mum'll come around soon looking for us..."  
  
"Gods I hope so..."  
  
They lapsed into silence as the rain continued to pour down, first one and then the other starting to shiver. As it got darker, they both worried that nobody was coming. After all, there were plenty of bigger and stronger pups in the herd, and there'd be plenty of time for other foals.  
  
The depressing thoughts were chased away as they heard calls in the forest.  
  
"PUP! Sunshine!"  
  
Trott nearly fell out of the tree in excitement. "Smith, Smith they're coming for us!"  
  
Nearly falling off the branch, Smith's face started to hurt from the excited grin spreading across it. "YES! We're over here!"  
  
Smith's mother strolled up, a matronly selkie on her back. She gave a snort, ears pointing at her son for a moment before she folded them back. On the branch, Smith looked sheepishly away, before accepting help off the tree.  
  
As they were heading back toward the village, Trott was thoroughly checked over. "You shouldn't be this far inland, pup! Why would you even GO this far? You've missed supper, too!"  
  
Wiggling under the fussing, Trott frowned. "I wanted to see the leaves! That's not so wrong, is it?"  
  
"You're a selkie, selkies don't go to look at LEAVES."  
  
Smith glanced back, frowning just a bit, then nestled forward into his mother's mane. He waved goodbye to Trott as they parted ways at the beach, wondering for the first time if selkies even used names, or if Trott was set apart from the others even further.  
  
The following morning, Smith carefully made his way down to the beach. He walked slower, visibly limping as he walked across the sand. When he joined Trott on what had become their favorite rock, he hugged his knees in silence.  
  
Trott finally broke the silence. "The elders don't want me coming up here anymore. They only let me today so I could tell you."  
  
Smith gave a shrug. "Suppose that'll have to be okay... Villagers are getting wise again and mum wants to move village. Maybe up north to the moores with Nan. Says people don't hunt kelpies up there, too afraid." He fell silent, watching the waves crash against the rocks. As if in silent testament to the dour mood, the clouds overhead were gray and gloomy.  
  
"I don't want you to go, though." He looked at Smith, hugging his skin tight around his shoulders. "You're my friend, Smith. You're the only person I know who doesn't make fun of my size, or not being as fast a swimmer as the other pups, or.. Or call me runt, and your mum doesn't call me pup, she calls me Trott like I want! No other adults do that!" Sure, his mother had started to call him sunshine, but that was a term of endearment. It wasn't a name.  
  
Glancing at Trott, Smith frowned. "You're miserable here. So why not leave?"  
  
Trott blinked in surprise. "What?"  
  
He gave a shrug, then thumbed up at the cliffs. "Mum wants to be gone by tonight at the soonest. Why not come with us?"  
  
"Up to the moores? But..." He looked back at the ocean. The heads of the other pups poked up out of the water, playing in the waves, games of hunting while the adults did actual hunting. "Selkies don't go to the moores, Smith. They live their whole lives in the sea."  
  
Smith let out a snort, sounding very horse-like despite his human appearance. "Says the selkie that was up a tree with me in the rain yesterday! The selkie who came to the shore to see the kelpie on the beach when the others swam away! Your mum's the first selkie besides you I've seen on land, and she only did that because she was looking for you!" He jabbed Trott in the chest, jarring him with the force of it. "Now tell me, does THAT sound like a selkie who sticks to that 'selkies don't do this' bullshit when asked about going to the moores to maybe be happy instead of staying in the sea where he's miserable?"  
  
He stared at his friend for a moment, before standing up. "You're right! I don't like it here, it's too cold, I don't fit in, and I don't want to lose the only friend I've known!" He put his hands on his hips, his skin looking for a moment like the cape of one of those comics Smith got for 25p. "I'm going to the moores!"  
  
"You're going WHERE?!"  
  
Trott let out a yelp, falling on Smith in surprise. "MUM!"  
  
Smith felt a panic starting to rise in his throat as he saw Trott's mother stalk out of the water, looking far less than happy. He pushed Trott off, scrambling to make sure he wasn't in the selkie mother's reach.  
  
"Pup, what's this about MOORES?" She crossed her arms, tapping one foot on the sand. The look she gave made Trott absolutely wilt.  
  
"I was gonna go with Smith and his mum to the moores to see his nan." He bit his lip, then slid off the rock and, standing in front of his mother, bowed his head. "I don't feel like I fit here. The other pups make fun of me, I'm so much smaller than them, I can't swim as fast..."  
  
Her stance changed from angry to exasperated to some mix of relief and sadness. Grabbing Trott by the shoulders, she pulled him into a hug. "If you do this... You can never come back."  
  
"I know..."  
  
"The elders will want to see you." She held him at arms' length, looking her son over with sad eyes. "I don't think I could make you stay, even though I want to, sunshine. Your happiness is more important to me than you staying where you're miserable."  
  
On the rock, Smith had to bite back his emotions as he watched the two selkies. When Trott's mother returned to the water, he watched his friend climb up. "I thought she was gonna drag you back into the water..."  
  
Trott remained quiet, picking at the edge of his seal skin. After a moment, he looked at Smith. "Does your mum even know, about you wanting me to go with you to the moores?"  
  
"Of course she does!" He looked at Trott, picking at his jumper sleeve. "She likes you. I don't make friends usually, Trott. Mum said I shouldn't trust other fae much, and humans are just food... But..." Smith gave him a soft punch to the shoulder, smiling. "We trusted each other and now we're friends!"  
  
He couldn't help but smile at Smith, before they lapsed into a comfortable silence. It was only broken, some time later, by a head popping up near the shore and a loud whistle coming from it. Trott climbed off the rock, waving to Smith. "I'll see you later, Smith!"  
  
"Bye, Trottimus! I'll be back later!" Climbing off the rock as well, Smith waved to Trott as he limped back up the beach, quietly cursing the stag for making it hard to run for a while.  
  
When Smith returned later, the sun starting to hide behind the trees behind them, he found Trott alone on the beach, sitting in the sand. He walked over, a grin on his face. "Hey, Trotty, ready to... Go..." His smile vanished as he saw the tears running down his friend's face. "Hey, what's wrong? If... If it's because you'll miss your mum, we can always visit, I don't think Mum would mind... Trott? Trottimus..." He sat down next to Trott. "Trotty..."  
  
He wiped at his face, hiccuping before looking at Smith. "They branded me... I'm dead to the herd, Smith... And any selkies who see me... They'll ignore me like I'm dead, too."  
  
He stared at Trott, horrified shock on his face. "They... They BRANDED you? WHY?"  
  
"Because selkies don't leave their herds to live anywhere except another herd!" He hugged his skin close for a moment, then pulled it off. The brand mark was angry and red in on the back of his shoulder, visible for the whole world to see, carved in with a knife and what was probably squid ink still smeared over it. "I'm a traitor to my own kind, and I can never go back, Smith."  
  
His hand twitched, reaching for Trott's shoulder before stopping. His fingers curled into a fist,  hand drawing back. "I'm sorry... This is my fault for saying you should come with us."  
  
He shook his head, folding the skin up before hugging it. It was far too big for him, something every pup experienced until they grew into their skins. Trott didn't think he'd ever grow into his, not like the others. "No, it's... It's not your fault. I didn't realize how much I wanted to leave this until I met you, because I had nothing worth leaving for. But now I DO have something worth leaving for." He scooted closer, leaning on Smith. "You're worth leaving for, Smith."  
  
A flush of red rose up on his face, staring down for a moment at Trott, before his gaze went to the sea. If he strained his ears hard enough, he could hear singing rising from it, even though he saw no selkie heads popping up out of the water. Eventually, the pair stood up and went back up to the cliffs.  
  
As soon as she saw Trott, carrying his skin instead of wearing it as he always did, Smith's mother pulled him into a hug. His back was bandaged up, and the trio were soon on their way up to the moores.  
  
Smith's nan wasn't happy about a selkie being with them, but she eventually got over it.


End file.
